We then headed in the general direction of the Basilica, stopping at souvenire shops along the way. As we were exiting one shop we looked across the street and saw someone who looked like our friend Rebecca. And someone who looked like our friend Kat and someone who looked like our friend Molly. No it wasn't a coincidence, it was them! Some Franciscan students did a mission trip to Lourdes over their ten-day and they were on their lunch break at this point and just happened to be looking in the souvenir shop across the street from us. So we had a wonderful reunion. They were even wearing their adorable little uniforms that look kind of like old fashioned nurses uniforms. And when Molly found out we hadn't been to the Basilica yet she said something along the lines of "Why are you talking to me?! Go see Our Lady!! Go! Now!" She and Rebecca literally pushed us toward the Basilica!
Umm, yeah, the Basilica's incredible. I'm really mad that I can't put my pictures up yet cuz they depict the Basilica much better than I can. But it's ginormous and incredibly gorgeous! Like there's stairs you have to go up so you can go up more stairs so you can enter the Church. And there's this huge golden crown and Cross which I just thought was gorgeous! And at the top of the stairs are statues of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist like they're guarding the Basilica. And I was terribly excited cuz I love St. John the Evangelist (St. Jean L'Evangeliste in French)! The Basilica was closed at the moment so we went to the crypt where I said my novena.
Then we went to the Grotto. What can I say? It was the Grotto! Mama Mary stood there! Obviously we stopped and prayed. I feel like my words are so inadequate but I have no way to explain the Grotto. In a sense I can say it looks just like the pictures but at the same time I can say that being there is incredible and I would encourage anyone who has the opportunity to make a pilgrimage.
We then crossed over the river - THE river - the one that St. Bernadette ran across! I mean we didn't get to step in the river or anything, we went over a bridge, but all I could think of was the little kids movie we used to watch about St. Bernadette and her running across this river and I was there!!!!
And on the other side of the river we found the water way! This is a path along the side of the river with 9 water fountains containing water from the spring. Each of the fountains has a name from the Bible and a meditation. I had read about this on the Lourdes tourism website and I was pretty excited to actually be able to do it. The first fountain is named Beer-sheba and focuses on Genesis 21:25-34 and Our Lady of Alliance. The second fountain is On the Road to Gaza and focuses on Acts 8:26-40 and Our Lady Mother of Good Counsel. The third is Meribah which examines Exodus 17: 1-7 and Our Lady of Penance. Number four is named Engedi and is based on Song of Songs 1:13-14 and Our Lady of Joy. Number five is called Living Water from John 7:37-39 and Our Lady Queen of the Apostles. The sixth fountain is named Nazareth after Luke 2:51-52 and Our Lady of the Beatitudes. Number seven focuses on Jacob's Well from John 4:1-26 and Our Lady of Living Water. The eighth is named Bethesda after John 5:1-18 and Our Lady of Good Health. And the ninth is called Siloam and focuses on John 9:1-41 and Our Lady of Light. I stopped at each fountain and read the meditation and blessed myself with the water. It was really peaceful and beautiful.
We then headed to the Adoration Chapel and visited with Jesus. I got to say my Rosary which is very important especially at a place like Lourdes where Our Lady encouraged us to pray the Rosary as she does wherever she appears. It also made me happy to see the two nuns, in habit, kneeling at the front of the Chapel. The sisters each take an hour of Adoration to make sure that Jesus is never alone. And they were just so beautiful. And when one sister's hour was finished another came to take her place and it was so beautiful how they interacted with each other and Jesus and I thought it was really cool how they both knelt simultaneously, one saying good-bye to Our Lord and the other saying hello!
By the way it was a GORGEOUS day!!!! Part of my prayer during Adoration was thanksgiving for the day we had. Our Lady was so good to us!
We had a little more time before the baths opened so we went back to the grotto and I got to actually walk up into the grotto and see the spring! And touch the stones Our Lady touched! It was so incredible!
We then headed for the baths and I had thought that we would be in line for hours but it only took about 2 minutes. Lourdes was actually really empty the day we were there. I mean there were people there but definitely not the crowds I expected. We think everyone was arriving the next day, Holy Thursday, for Holy Week and we went on the perfect day! It was so nice and peaceful! But anyways, back to the baths. You go into a little ante-room with about 7 to 9 other women and the "mothers." You have to undress entirely to go into the bath and the mothers have a blue cape that they hold around you while you're undressing so that not even the other women in the room can see you and as soon as you're done they wrap the cape around you and show you how to hold it so you'll be completely covered and then you sit down and wait your turn to go in the bath. You then go through a curtain into the room where the bath is and there are three helpers there. One of my helpers was a girl from Franciscan - Maria! It was so nice to have someone I knew helping me. When you enter the room you have to take off the cape but are immediately wrapped in a towel. You then stand at the foot of the bath, facing a statue of the Blessed Mother and tell her your intentions and then make the sign of the Cross. Then one helper stands on either side of you, holding your arms, and one behind you, to make sure you don't slip and fall. You then step down the first step into the water and then the second step and then you walk in a little and then sit down so you're completely submerged except for your head. The water is FREEZING!!!!! As I stood up I wasn't sure if I was breathing - not like I was gasping for air but my brain was just not registering whether or not I was taking in air because of the shock of the cold water. You only sit down for a second and then the helpers assist you in standing up and turning around and they ask Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Bernadette to pray for us and then walk you back out and wrap you in the cape. You then go back in the ante-room where the mother again holds the cape around you while you change. One of the things that really struck me was that there was absolutely no rush. I was trying to get dressed as fast as I could so the next person in line could come in so I got dressed and just grabbed my coat and was gonna run out all frazzled - as usual - and pull myself together once I got outside but the mother took my coat and insisted on helping me put it on and on me getting all my stuff pulled together before I left.
We always talk about de-personalizing experiences but this was the most PERSONALIZING experience of my life. I don't know if that's even a real term but I feel like it must be cuz if you have de-personalization you must have personalization but I've never heard the term used, all we ever talk about is de-personalization. Which is totally legitimate considering how much de-personalization there is in the world but as I walked out of there I really felt that I had the dignity of a human person. The mothers were so protective of your dignity, in making sure that you were always covered and that you weren't rushed, they were just so focused on you and on treating you with the dignity due to a human person. I've never felt more human than when I walked out of the baths.
Sarah said later that with the blue capes it was like we were really and truly wrapped in the Mantle of the Blessed Mother! It was like she gave us a hug!
Sarah came out a few minutes later and we headed down the side of the river where we thought the Stations of the Cross were. The Stations weren't there but Narnia was. It was actually kind of ridiculous - we passed the bridge and on the other side there was just this little wooded path along the side of the river and it was so beautiful and Sarah was like "It's like Narnia!" And there was even a lamp post! And then - no joke - we saw a beaver! Yeah - a real, live beaver! In Narnia. They're actually smaller than I expected. But it was amazing we were just talking and then Sarah freaked out and was like Oh my gosh look! And I looked and I thought it was an otter or something at first and then I saw a tail and we freaked out and took pictures - it was incredible! And then he started swimming away which led to one of my favorite quotes of the trip: "Hey you! With the tail! Get back here!" Oh and then we saw a rose that totally looked like the rose in Beauty and the Beast. That little peaceful place didn't have anything special about it, it's not on the Lourdes tourism website, but it was Narnia and it was so special for us!
We then stopped in the smaller Church L'Eglise de St. Bernadette and I said the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. We then headed back in the direction of our hostel, stopping at souvenir shops along the way (I had to get something for my Mommy whose Confirmation Saint is St. Bernadette). And along the way we saw the Cafe St. Jeanne D'Arc (Cafe St. Joan of Arc)! I was very excited!
Sarah was exhausted though so we went back to the hostel and she took a nap while I walked down the street to keep looking for the perfect souvenir for my Mommy. I finally found it but still had time before dinner so I continued my walk and saw signs for the Cachot de St. Bernadette which is St. Bernadette's house which I had really wanted to visit! So I took a little detour and got to visit her home! St. Bernadette's family had originally been somewhat affluent and she was born in a fairly nice home. They then fell into financial trouble however and had to live in the Cachot which used to be a prison. There's a very small entryway and then one small room. It's even smaller than in the movies. Just the one room. You walk in the entrance where they have a sign explaining that this is where the Soubirous family lived and several relics of St. Bernadette - her clothes and shoes - and then the one room with a barred window, a fireplace, two benches and a few chairs, and then you walk to the exit where there is a sign with different beautiful quotes from St. Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes and then you leave. It's so small but it's so beautiful! I was so happy I got to visit there!
I then went back to the hotel and read a few pages of Chesterton before we headed to a pizza place for dinner. After dinner we stopped at Sacre Coure (aka the Parish Church). I had wanted to visit the Parish Church because it contains the Baptismal Font where St. Bernadette was Baptized. However, the Lourdes tourism website didn't give the actual name of the Church they just called it the Parish Church and there are a lot of Churches in Lourdes so I didn't know which was the right one so I didn't think I would get to see it. However, when we arrived in Lourdes the night before Sarah and I had seen this one Church which was lit up like the castle at Disney World! So we had decided to visit it. So we went in and knelt down and prayed and then I was looking around and I saw the Baptismal Font and it was roped off and I was like oh my gosh that's it! So I got to pray at the Baptismal Font and touch it! God is so good!!!!!
We then stepped outside and it was raining! At the end of the day, after we had finished everything and were on our way back to the hotel, that's when it started raining! And this is what happened almost every day - God held the rain off until we were done! He is so good to us!
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